13/10/2024
ASSOCIATION CULTURELLE SONINKEE DU MALI
(ACS-MALI)
PRESS RELEASED
DATED 11/10/2024
The members of the Bureau of the Soninke Cultural Association (ACS Mali) held a meeting extended to representatives of youth, women and resource persons of the community on October 11, 2024 at the Modibo Keita Memorial. The agenda included a point specifically listed on the subject of the remarks of Mr. Aboubacar Sidiki Fomba of the CNT through social networks.
The participants in the meeting examined with extreme seriousness the insulting, false, defamatory, accusatory remarks and those that undermine the honor and dignity of our community.
The Soninke community of Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ivory Coast and its entire Diaspora throughout the world, strongly condemns these intentional remarks, which seek to harm its reputation as a peace-loving, courageous, devoted people with a very high sense of patriotism.
The Soninke people, with their thousand-year-old history, have always embodied the values of work, unity and inclusiveness. Over the centuries, the Soninke have migrated everywhere and distinguished themselves by their exemplary contribution to the socio-economic and cultural development of Mali, both in rural areas and in large cities, and even beyond our borders in the diaspora.
All over the world, the Soninke have been able to fly the flag of Mali high, building bridges between peoples and nations, constantly working for the unity, peace and progress of our nation.
Aware of the imperative of promoting the language, its cross-border dimension, and the need to harmonize its writing, the Soninke community has organized itself within a Confederation for better coordination of cultural actions and joint decision-making for the smooth running of its society. It is for this purpose that the Confederation has created a language academy which is hosted in the Republic of Gambia. The momentum and results obtained by socio-linguistic experts have led the permanent delegation of Gambia to UNESCO to take ownership of the language file, and with the support of the Association for the Promotion of the Soninke Language and Culture in Paris (APS), have brought the file before the Executive Board of UNESCO, which adopted the Resolution 42C/61, proclaiming September 25 as International Day of the Soninke Language.
The Soninke community reminds all Malian people that the proclamation of September 25 as International Day of the Soninke Language by UNESCO is the fruit of many years of hard work by all Soninke associations in all our countries and the diaspora. This proclamation is a source of national pride, especially since Soninke has thus become the second African language after Swahili.
UNESCO is a United Nations organization responsible for education, culture and science, which brings together 192 countries around the world, including Mali. It is not an appendage of France; its sole purpose is to promote all cultures of the world.
Resolution 42C/61 was adopted in the presence of the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mali to UNESCO, who is naturally the representative of the Malian authorities. The role of our representation is also to fight for the valorization and promotion of our national languages with UNESCO.
Our community is therefore outraged that a Mr. Fomba Aboubacar Sidiki, member of the National Transitional Council in Mali, in remarks full of hatred, seeds against national cohesion, stigmatization, accuses the Soninke of being in the pay of any power to harm our nation.
In view of the seriousness of the remarks and the indignation they have aroused, the Soninke community asks the authorities of the Transition to take exemplary sanctions against Mr. Fomba Aboubacar Sidiki of the National Transitional Council, an institution supposed to embody national unity and equal sharing between all the sons and daughters of the nation.
The Soninke community reserves all right of recourse likely to wash away the affront and restore the confidence of the Soninke, always in solidarity and mutual aid. The Soninke people, faithful to their values of work, peace and patriotism, will remain standing and committed to the prosperity of our dear homeland.
President
Crn5 54%
The President,
De. Abdramane Sylla
Former Minister
Officer of the National Order.
